


His Honour

by strange_nut_pirate



Series: OTP Prompt Oneshots [1]
Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Normal AU, This is a normal au, and also this is pretty cringey if I do say so myself, helnik - Freeform, matthias lives dw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23065597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strange_nut_pirate/pseuds/strange_nut_pirate
Summary: Nina was told Matthias would be hers all weekend, but Matthias’ job has other ideas. And even though she knows he's doing all of this for her, she can't help but feel guilty for his labour.
Relationships: Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik
Series: OTP Prompt Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1657651
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	His Honour

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts are from: https://drink-it-write-it.tumblr.com/post/189074732022/200-prompts
> 
> Thanks for reading in advance (even if you don’t finish it all and skim through it)! This series mostly exists just so I can work on writing romance, so expect some stuff in here to be bad.
> 
> Anyway, let’s go! ❤️💛❤️💛

**[Normal AU]“You said that I’ll get to have you all weekend. Why can’t you just tell them you can’t go?”**

**“Because it's my job and it's important.”**

**“And I'm not?”** Nina asked, crossing her arms and staring at him piercingly.

Matthias sighed. His expression held one of guilt, and his face was lined with weariness.

 _All the better to tie him to this house, and let him rest,_ Nina thought grumpily. God, how and when did she become such a housewife?

“Nina,” Matthias started, cringing at himself. “You know you are important to me. You're the most important thing to me. And that's why I must work. I have to provide for you and give you everything you deserve–”

“Matthias, stop,” Nina interrupted, holding up a hand. She didn’t know what she’d do if he started cheesily rambling on about his love for her, because she did know he loved her. But right now, she needed him home, as much as he needed a break. “You need to take a breath. And you need rest. There's no point working so hard you pass out, and then I'll have to nurse you back to health, and then you'll feel guilty about it once you're conscious, and work harder, and overexert yourself again, and it's just going to be a cycle. And it won't be beneficial for anyone.”

“I will not pass out,” Matthias said with adorable indignation. “I am a hard worker, and am accustomed to the circumstances of being a carpenter.”

A pang of sadness washed over Nina. It killed her that Matthias was a carpenter. He was so noble, so strong and so much more talented than that. She knew her fiancé’s future did not lie there. And she knew how strenuous the job must be for him. And even though he had quit the military after she had fallen ill (she never slept with the knowledge that Matthias could be deployed to some raging battlefield any moment), he had at least he had seemed happy, _fulfilled_ in serving his country. He had seen his comrades as his brothers, and he held his honour everywhere he went. But because of Nina, he quit what he loved to do the most.

“Matthias,” she said softly, “I can work too, you know.”

“No, Nina,” he said firmly. “No, you need to heal and get better.”

“I'm not so delicate,” she huffed at him, but she knew he was too frustratingly stubborn to sway. “And I'm not that ill. I feel amazing right now, in fact! You're just being so sombre and dramatic,”

That, in fact, was _not_ true. It was painful to stand up straight right now, and though she tried, she felt it was hard to breathe. And even though she had dressed up for Matthias, in her amazing red dress (it was just _too_ endearing to see Matthias flush as red as it when he saw her in it), she could feel her skin get grossly sticky, as unnecessary sweating started to break out. 

And unfortunately for her, Matthias noticed. He seemed to notice every time.

He held her gross hand, but he didn't seem to find it disgusting. He squeezed it and smiled at her softly, rubbing her ring finger that would soon have thier wedding ring on it, and it made her melt.

 _Wow, he is so damn gorgeous_ , she thought, not for the first time that day. _I really hit the jackpot._

“Last time you said you were fine enough to work, you passed out before you could even get to the interview,” he said, gently placing a kiss to her temple. “Let me do this for you. You'll get better. And then we’ll get married.”

“I don't care about the wedding,” she said, leaning into him, her steady anchor to earth. “As long as I have you here with me, I'm fine.”

“But I care,” Matthias said, and Nina knew he did. He was as traditional as he was stubborn. 

“You shouldn't be a carpenter. It doesn't suit you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I've seen the way you were in the military, and now I see how you are as a carpenter, and it kills me more than this illness ever will, Matthias,” she said, looking up to address her point. Her hand snaked up to cup his cheek, feeling his body sigh at her touch. “You've given up your honour for me, and I won't have it. I alsolutely won’t.”

Matthias let out a small breath of laughter, and Nina’s hand that was caressing his face then poked him on the cheek.

“What are you laughing at?” She asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Nothing,” he said, his voice low. “It's just, you're the one always calling me oblivious.”

“That's because you are.”

“But so are you.”

“Oh?”

He placed his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

“ _You_ are my honour, Nina Zenik,” he said, and Nina thought she might just snog him then and there (if she had the strength, and even thinking about not having the strength to snog her fiancé as she pleased depressed her more than she could express), but then his grip slackened. “And now I have to go.”

“Wait, please,” she said, gripping him tighter, hating how desperate she sounded. “I don't care about how weak I am, or the money, or anything! I just need you right now. Okay? Do this for us.”

Matthias studied her with concern, taking in her pale complexion behind the makeup, and her skinny figure (everybody knew something was wrong when Nina lost her appetite). Her grip loosened on him, because she knew there was no convincing him otherwise.

“It's my duty to protect you–” he started.

“Matthias.”

“–And I will do that no matter what, Nina.”

She let go of him, defeated.

“Okay,” she said, feeling herself break in a way only Matthias could make her do. She knew it was immature to feel this bad. Matthias _was_ doing this all for her. She should be swooning (because of him, not because of how weak she was at the moment) right now.

He paused before leaving, trying to make her look at him, but she wouldn't look any higher than her fidgeting, sweaty hands. He then leant in, and kissed her briefly on the mouth.

“I love you,” he murmured, and then he was gone.

And she knew better than anyone else.

She sat down on her bed to rest, since she started to feel dizzy, and also because she decided to have a good cry whilst at it too. She thought about her bright, protective, conservative fiancé, her highschool sweetheart. She knew she meant the world to him, but he meant the world to her as well. And she’d be damned if he gave up anything that made him unhappy for her. 

You know what? Screw the crying. She didn’t feel like it anymore. Nina was going to get better, whether it took seeing Dr. Yul-Bataar every goddamn day or whether she had to force her health back to life by sheer force of will. She’d do it. Not only for Matthias, but for herself too.

Not having to snog your fiancé in a skimpy red dress without getting dizzy and sweaty was too high a price to pay.


End file.
